KOALAS will be listed as endangered, instead of vulnerable, in the ACT in an effort to protect declining populations of the marsupial.

Federal environment minister Sussan Ley announced the conservation status downgrade today (Friday 11) in line with a recommendation by the government advisory body, the Threatened Species Scientific Committee.

“Today I am increasing the protection for koalas in NSW, the ACT and Queensland listing them as endangered rather than their previous designation of vulnerable,” Ms Ley said.

The koala is under pressure from multiple ongoing threats including disease, global heating and clearing of its habitat for development.

In the ACT, a koala breeding program is run at the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. Small numbers of koalas have also been spotted in Queanbeyan.

In 2020, a NSW parliamentary inquiry found the species would be extinct in NSW by 2050 unless governments took urgent action to protect its habitat and turn the declines around.

Ms Ley believes the endangered listing will highlight and help address threats to koala populations.

“The impact of prolonged drought, followed by the black summer bushfires, and the cumulative impacts of disease, urbanisation and habitat loss over the past twenty years have led to the advice,” said Ms Ley.

“Together we can ensure a healthy future for the koala.”